Excel @ 25 | The 5 Question Reflections Pt. 2

As part of our 25th anniversary celebrations throughout 2014, we have been asking those who know the business best to share their personal reflections and memories of Excel.

Last month it was the turn of founding director Mark Smith; now the spotlight turns to the man he’s known longest through Excel, Daryl Hoare.

Although at the time Daryl was working for another company, he was with Mark on Excel’s first ever project (cable tidying for a major bank – download our company history for the full story). Not too many years later Daryl joined the Excel team, and he has gone on to be one of its longest serving employees.

1. How and when did your relationship with Excel start?

I first met Mark Smith when I was working in the electrical contracting industry. Our roles regularly overlapped at Swiss Bank Corporation and we built up a good working relationship. Excel was experiencing considerable growth during the mid to late nineties so over a few drinks during the Christmas period in 1997 I decided to join the fast changing world of IT support provision at Excel.

2. What has Excel meant to you during your association with the company?

It’s been fantastic to both witness and be a part of the growth of Excel over the past 20 years or so. I would consider the people I’ve worked with over this time to be friends rather than just colleagues.

3. What has been the highpoint of your association with the company?

There have been a few but the one that sticks out was a major project for a banking group in 2006. It was the first Reichle & De-Massari structured cabling installation for that company in the UK, and also involved the relocation of 600 end-users from West End offices. The key stakeholders of the programme from the client IT, end-user services and Reichle & De-Massari published excellent testimonials regarding the delivery of this project.

4. How has Excel changed in the time you have known it?

With the growth has come greater structure, from having back-office support with the travel bookings and logistics requirements, to the introduction of Xact enabling us to access reports and real-time information with a few clicks.